LIFE LESSONS
PAUL PART IV
DR. JIM DIXON
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12
AUGUST 7, 2005
Rabban Gamaliel I was the greatest theologian in 1st century Judaism. Rabban Gamaliel I was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Ruling Council of the Jews. He was a teacher of the law, the greatest teacher in all Israel. He was the great head, the great leader of the famous School of Hillel and he was the first to be given the title, “Rabban,” which means, “Our Master.” According to the Talmud, Rabbi Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel himself and he was such a great honored theologian that only the finest Jewish children from the finest Jewish families could come and be educated and learn at his feet.
The Bible mentions Rabbi Gamaliel in the Book of Acts, the 5th chapter, and also in the 22nd chapter. The Bible tells us an amazing thing. The Bible tells us that the Apostle Paul himself came and studied at the feet of Gamaliel. Paul was one of those special children from a special Jewish family and he was sent from Tarsus to the city of Jerusalem that he might be educated by the Rabban, that he might be educated by Rabbi Gamaliel I.
Gamaliel taught Paul theology, for Gamaliel was the greatest theologian of his age. He taught Paul soteriology, the pathway to salvation, obedience to Torah, and he taught Paul ecclesiology and he taught Paul about the synagogues, the assemblies, the priest and the Levites and their purposes. Then of course he taught Paul about eschatology. He taught Paul about the Eschaton, the last days, the last things, when the Messiah would come and usher in the Messianic Age and Israel would be restored. Of course, the amazing thing is that Paul, the Apostle, became the greatest theologian of the Christian world and Paul’s writings, his Epistles, are the basis for most Christian theology. Paul, however, did not have Gamaliel as his supreme teacher. The supreme teacher of Paul was Jesus Christ Himself.
It was Christ who appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road and transformed Paul’s life and to Christ Paul ascended supernaturally into the third heaven, into the presence of Christ. Paul was a recipient of divine supernatural revelations. In all that Paul tells us about the Eschaton, about the end of the world, about the end of the age, Paul received from Christ.
This morning we take a look at what Jesus says to us through Paul regarding the end of the age. You have an outline in your bulletin. It’s on the second page. You can turn to that. You might be thinking, “Oh no! He’s got 6 points today.” Maybe you’re wanting to get to the International Golf Tournament, but remember they’ve got 36 holes today. There is no way they’re going to be finished before 6:00.
Well, let’s take a look at this. Paul, with regard to the last days, the Eschaton, describes six events—he describes all of them, he mentions all of them—in our passage of scripture for today. First of all, he describes the second coming of Jesus Christ. Paul begins in verse 1 by saying, “concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…” The Greek word is “Parousia,” and it referred to “the coming of the King to present Himself before the people.” Paul was not referring to the first coming of Christ here. He wasn’t referring to Bethlehem. He wasn’t referring to Christmas. Paul is here referring to the second coming of Christ. Jesus told Paul that He would come again. The Parousia.
In verse 8 of this same chapter, Paul describes the second coming again but he uses a different word. He uses the word “Epiphaneia” which means, “the appearing.” Jesus Christ does not now appear but one day He will appear. In other places Paul uses still another Greek word to describe the second coming of Christ, the Greek word “akatakaluptos” which means, “the unveiling.” One day Christ will be unveiled. Christ will be unveiled in all of His glory. He came the first time as a suffering servant to die for the sin of the world. He’ll come again “King of Kings” to present Himself before the earth, the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Some of you perhaps have heard of a simulacra. Perhaps you’ve looked into the clouds and you’ve seen a face in the clouds or an image in the clouds or a figure in the clouds, at least what appeared to be a face in the clouds, and that’s called a simulacra. Psychologists today speak of pareidolia, which is the ability of some people to see simulacras commonly in clouds. Of course, in the second coming there’s going to be like global pareidolia. Everyone is going to see this simulacra, except it’s going to be real. The Bible says, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him somehow. By His power, simultaneously and globally, will see the coming of the Son of God. He is coming and He’s coming for judgement. That’s what the second coming of Jesus Christ is all about—judgement. The Bible says, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds. Every eye shall see Him. Everyone who pierced Him and all the nations of the earth will cry out on account of Him!” Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense to repay everyone for what He has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
In the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 25, Jesus said that He would come again in power and great glory and all of His angels with Him and He would sit on His glorious throne and before Him would be gathered all the nations and He would judge them. The second coming. It’s all about judgement.
Perhaps some of you have heard of the city of Messina. The city of Messina is on the Island of Sicily. Last year Barb and I and my brothers and their wives went to the Island of Sicily. We went to Palermo. We wanted to go to Messina but couldn’t get there. Messina is an ancient city, 2700 years old. Through the years it’s been known for, frankly, its debauchery. At the dawning of the 20th century in the year 1900, Messina, Sicily was considered perhaps the most evil, the most wicked, city on the earth.
On Christmas Day in the year 1908, El Telephono, the leading publication in Messina, printed an article, a feature article, a cover story, on Christmas where they mocked Christmas and they renounced the Son of God. In that same article in that major publication, they challenged God to destroy the city of Messina by earthquake. Historians still have a copy of that publication, Christmas Day, 1908, El Telephono. They still have it. Three days later, December 28, 1908, a massive earthquake hit the city of Messina. It’s a fact of history. Eighty-four thousand people died.
What do you think? Coincidence? Do you think that’s a coincidence or do you think that that was a manifestation of divine judgement. Even in this age of the world I don’t know for sure. I’ll tell you this though. It’s a rare thing for God to judge nations or cities or people in this age of the world. Judgement waits for the second coming of Jesus Christ. He’s coming again and he’s going to judge the living and the dead. He’s going to judge the nations. He’s going to judge individuals.
You wonder, “Who’s going to judge Israel? Who’s going to judge the Palestinian State? Who’s going to judge Iraq? Iran? Who’s going to judge the United States of America? Who’s going to judge me? Who’s going to judge you?” Jesus. That’s what the parousia, the second coming, is about.
The second event that Paul mentioned is the rapture. Paul mentions the rapture concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet Him. Here Paul is talking about the rapture, the Latin word “rapturo” which means, “being caught up,” “being caught up to the Lord.” Paul describes the rapture more fully in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, when Paul says, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a cry of command with the Archangels’ call, with the sound of the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ shall rise. We who are alive, who are left until His coming shall be gathered together with them and caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and we shall always be with the Lord.” The rapture.
Of course, in these two passages, 1 Thessalonians 4, 2 Thessalonians 2, it sounds kind of like the rapture and the second coming are simultaneous, doesn’t it? It sounds like the church will be raptured at the second coming. Of course, ah-millennialists believe that indeed these two events are simultaneous and pre-millennial post-tribulationists also believe that these two events will be simultaneous but others disagree. All Bible scholars acknowledge that before the second coming there’s going to come a time of tribulation. Pre-millennial pre-tribulationists believe that the rapture of the church will occur before this time of tribulation—7 years before the second coming. We can only hope they are right.
Of course, there are pre-tribulationists, mid-tribulationists, post-tribulationists. My experience through the years is that pre-tribulationists can find Bible verses to back their perspective. Mid-tribulationists can find Bible verses to back their perspective and post-tribulationists can find Bible verses to back their perspective. But know this. The Church will be raptured, whether before the tribulation or during it or after it, the church of Jesus Christ will ascend. It will be raptured. It’s at that day, Paul tells us, that we’ll receive our resurrection bodies. What an incredible day that will be. Jesus will come for His own. He will come for His Church. He will come for His people.
In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, and in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, Paul mentions and describes these resurrection bodies that we’ll be given at the rapture. Paul says they will be heavenly, “epouranois,” “fit for the heavens.” They will be indestructible, “aptharsia,” no longer subject to decay. They will be powerful, “dunamis,” from which we get the word dynamite. This word in the Greek refers to “miraculous powers.” The resurrection body will have miraculous powers. This new body will be spiritual, “pneumatikos,” “governing by the Spirit.” These bodies we have now are all too subject to the flesh. That resurrection body will be glorious, “doxa,” worthy of a doxology, worthy of praise. We’ll get those resurrection bodies at the rapture. Incredible.
I love the old joke about the farmer who, years ago, came from his farm into the city. He had never been to the city. He came with his son and with his wife. They went into a department store and the wife was just amazed as she saw all the goods for sale. She began to look around. The farmer and his soon looked over and they saw an elevator. They had never seen an elevator in their life and didn’t know what it was. The farmer sees an elderly woman walk up to the doors of the elevator. The doors opened and the elderly woman went in. The doors shut. Lights were blinking. A couple of minutes later the doors opened and a young beautiful woman came out. The farmer said to his son, “Son, go get your mom and put her in that thing!” It’s an old joke but that’s what’s going to happen at the rapture. We’re going to get new bodies. The Bible says, “Like the freshness of the morning dew, your youth will return to you.” How incredible that is.
Barb’s dad died a little over a month ago. He was 89 years old. When he was only 61, he had a stroke, a massive stroke. Almost half of his body was paralyzed, and he was unable to speak as he’d been able to speak. He was that way for the last 28 years of his life, 28 years with major paralysis and inability to speak. But he set that body aside and his spirit has been set free from that body of decay. He’s with the Lord and at the rapture, all of us—the dead in Christ, the living in Christ—all of us, will receive new bodies at the same time. That’s what the Bible says. That’s the second event that Paul describes in this passage, the rapture.
The third event, the Day of the Lord. Paul says, “Do not be deceived thinking the Day of the Lord has come.” This is a summary phrase, “the Day of the Lord.” It refers to all of the Eschaton. It describes the rapture, the tribulation, the second coming, the final judgement, the resurrection. It even describes the New Day, the day when a new day dawns and the new age, the new heavens. It’s all part of the Day of the Lord, this summary phrase.
In the year 1787 Edward Gibbon wrote his literary 6-volume masterpiece called “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” In this 6-volume book, Gibbon cites the five reasons the Roman Empire fell in his opinion. First of all, he said the Roman Empire fell because of the rise of divorce and the breakdown of the family. Secondly, he said the Roman Empire fell because of increased taxation and the use of public dollars for free bread. Thirdly he says the Roman Empire fell because the Roman people were increasingly preoccupied with entertainment and their sports became more exciting and more violent with every passing year. Fourthly, he said the Roman Empire fell because the Roman Government was primarily focused on their artillery, their military, their legions. They thought the great threat to the Empire was external, not realizing the greatest threat was from within and they were rotting at the core. Fifthly he said the Roman Empire fell because of the decline of their religious structures.
Today many historians disagree with Gibbons. Today many historians disagree with his views. There’s no denying this. The Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. In 476, Romulus Augustulus, the last Emperor of Rome was cast down by Germanic tribes. The truth is, long before that the Roman Empire was in decline. This is true of all nations. This is true of all empires. You look back on history and nations rise and nations fall without exception. That’s going to be true of nations today. Everything is transitory. Even the United States of America is transitory. I love this country, but it is true. The United States of America will not last forever.
Where is history heading? Where is it all heading? What the Bible says and what Paul says, it’s all heading towards the Day of the Lord. It’s all heading toward the Eschaton, toward the second coming of Christ, toward the rapture of the Church, the tribulation, Armageddon, to the final judgement—the resurrection of the living and the dead. It’s all heading in that direction.
So the message of Paul, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, “ragora sate.” That’s his message and we’re going to take a look at that word in just a few minutes.
The fourth event relating to the eschaton, the fourth event relating to the end times is what Paul calls the rebellion. Paul tells us, “The day of the Lord cannot come unless the rebellion comes first.”
The movie Spartacus was made in 1960, 45 years ago. It starred Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis, Sir Laurence Olivier and Jean Simmons. It won four Academy Awards. The movie played loose with history. It distorted history, falsified history, created new history. That’s true of many Hollywood movies but there really was a Spartacus and he was born in Thrace more than 100 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. He was a nomadic herder and in the course of time joined the Roman Armies. He defected and he was apprehended and arrested and forced to be a gladiator, to fight in Roman arenas and Hippodromes throughout the Roman Empire to face other gladiators, to face wild beasts. Spartacus, historians tell us, became one of the greatest gladiators in the Roman world.
The year was 73 BC when Spartacus escaped with other gladiators and led the great slave rebellion, the greatest slave rebellion in the history of the world. They went to Mount Vesuvius where they made their headquarters and gathered 70,000 slaves. They marched against the armies of Rome, and they defeated Roman Legions. They came to control Southern and Central Italy and finally Spartacus was defeated by the Armies of Crassus who later formed the First Triumphant with Julius Caesar and Pompei.
History is filled with rebellion and much of the rebellion throughout history has been noble. Our nation was birthed in rebellion, and we deemed that rebellion, that War of Independence, noble. There have been rebellions against tyranny throughout history. The Bible says there’s going to come one last rebellion and it’s not going to be noble because this one last final rebellion will be rebellion against God and it will be rebellion against the morality of God and the doctrines of God. It will involve rebellion against orthodoxy, right thinking; rebellion against orthopraxy, right behavior. Paul describes this in other places. Paul says, “The day is coming when men will no longer endure sound teaching. Having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking, turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.” Rebellion.
Paul says, “The Spirit expressly says that in the last days many will depart (again the word apostasia—rebellion) from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared.” The great rebellion.
Many of you this last week have e-mailed me, and you’ve told me of your concern about the city of Centennial, which is creating a “red light district” with strip clubs and other forms of so-called adult entertainment near Arapahoe Road and I-25. There’s a meeting tomorrow night and you want people to be involved. I understand but in our context this morning, this is all part of the rebellion. It’s all about turning against God. There’s more sexual addiction in the United States of America today than there’s ever been in American history. There’s more sexual addiction in the world today than there’s ever been in world history. It’s a safe statement. There are forms of pornography today never available before. There are millions, and indeed billions, tragically addicted. It’s all part of the rebellion.
Many mainline Protestant denominations are increasingly in rebellion against the doctrines of God and the teachings of scripture. This is what Paul foresaw and this is what Jesus taught Paul.
There is a fifth event associated with the eschaton, with the last things. I know our time is short. The fifth event is the man of lawlessness. Paul says that, “The day of the Lord will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the Son of Perdition, which means, ‘The Son from Hell,’ the son whose destiny is hell. He is the man of lawlessness, anomia—without law, without moral law, perhaps even without civil law. He will arise on the stage of history and he will have great power. He will lead an assemblage of nations and he will seek to deceive the world.” He is in some places called the Antichrist. Paul’s name for the Antichrist is the man of lawlessness, the Son of Perdition.
In the Book of Daniel, he’s called “the little horn.” In the Book of Revelation, he’s called “the beast.” There are many names given to the Antichrist in scripture. I want you to see a clip from a little film by Tim LaHaye published by Questar.
“As tension in the Middle East reaches fever pitch, a charismatic world leader will arise out of Europe offering the Jews the one thing they most desperately seek. They’re harassed by the Arabs. They’re harassed by the enemies, the anti-Semites from all over the world and here comes a world leader that wants to give them the guarantee of peace. He’s going to come on the world scene and be the leader and he’s going to amalgamate the world and bring all of these countries together in the name of world peace. The Bible refers to this world leader by many names—‘Master of Intrigue,’ ‘Worthless Shepherd,’ ‘The Beast,’ ‘The Antichrist.’ In what appears to be an extraordinary act of diplomacy, the Antichrist aligns himself with Israel and brokers a peace agreement with the Arab nations, preventing an all-out war. When he makes a league or a covenant with the Children of Israel, a peace covenant for 7 years—it’s not for 10 years or 15 years—that starts the tribulation period. Immediately after the peace accord is signed, any thought of tribulation is obscured by the Antichrist’s soaring popularity. Empowered by Satan, he becomes the head of a European Confederacy of Nations that will rule the world in its final days. Many scholars believe this Confederation will stand as the most powerful economic, political, military force in history. For a planet weary of turmoil and war, the Antichrist is hailed as a savior. To the Jews, the treaty he has forged represents the key to the fulfillment of a dream, the reconstruction of their Temple.”
There are many different images of the Antichrist in film, many different images of the Antichrist in books. Even in the Bible the images are multiple for the concept of Antichrist biblically is complex. Certainly, the Antichrist will be an individual who will arrive on the stage of history with great power, with the anointing and the empowerment of the evil one, of the devil himself. He will seek to deceive the nations and he will be anti-God, anti-Christ, and he will be smart and he will be clever. But understand biblically that the Antichrist is not simply an individual. This word, Antichrist, biblically is also applied to the alignment of nations that this individual heads and this label Antichrist also describes the demonic diabolic power that empowers those nations and the individuals. The Antichrist is coming and the spirit of Antichrist, Paul says “the spirit of lawlessness” is already at work in the world. We see the work of the spirit of Antichrist in our culture, in our nation and indeed in all nations.
Our time is virtually up but there is one other event that Paul mentions in this passage of scripture regarding the eschaton and that is the restrainer. This is kind of a mysterious reference. Paul speaks of the restrainer who is restraining the forces of Antichrist. Paul says to the Thessalonians, “You know what is restraining the forces of Antichrist now and will continue to restrain until the man of lawlessness appears. There’s some restrainer that is warding off evil on the earth.” You might want to know “Who is the restrainer? What is the restrainer?” We don’t know.
Paul has left this world and he’s not speaking. He talked to the Thessalonians and they knew what he was talking about. He had once visited him. They had discussed it. We don’t know for sure who the restrainer is but it’s very evident that there is a restrainer that is warding off the forces of evil until the consummation. There are some Bible scholars who believe the restrainer is the church. That’s a wonderful thought and I think to some extent it is true. The church of Jesus Christ is at work in this age and all through the ages to restrain evil on the earth. Certainly that is part of our call in Christ to be salt in the corruption and light in the darkness. The church certainly serves as a restrainer and perhaps when the church is raptured, perhaps when the church is taken out of the way, the man of lawlessness will appear. There are some problems with that view, but they involve complexities we don’t have time to deal with.
There are other Bible scholars who believe that the restrainer might be the Holy Spirit Himself. Certainly it is true, the Holy Spirit wards off evil in every generation and will continue to do so, but Paul speaks of the restrainer as ultimately being taken out of the way so the man of lawlessness can appear. It’s hard to imagine that the Holy Spirit would ever be taken out of the way. The Holy Spirit is God, omnipresent. It is very evident biblically that even during the time of tribulation, the Holy Spirit will be at work.
Some have said, “Well, maybe the restrainer is God-ordained earthly government,” because in Romans 13, Paul refers to government as “established by God, given the sword and by the will of God is to deter evil on the earth.” Paul saw earthly governments as instituted by God to deter evil on the earth. Certainly this is possible. After all, the Antichrist is “anomia.” He is against law. It’s possible that earthly government will ward off evil until Antichrist arises and there’s no more God-ordained earthly government in the world. It’s possible.
But the point is, evil is at work. The consummation is coming and there is a restrainer. Ultimately that restrainer is certainly God and Christ. God has a plan. What does it all mean to us? What does it all mean to you? Paul would say, “If you’re a Christian, this whole concept of the eschaton is all the blessed hope.” Paul summarizes these things and Paul says, “Encourage and exhort one another with these words, you who believe, because you’re going to be raptured. Jesus is coming for His people and He’s going to receive His people unto Himself and He’s going to bless them in all eternity and the earth is going to be judged and justice will be served. There’s a new day coming!”
So in one sense when you understand all of this, rejoice! Of course, we might hope that it’s a pre-trib rapture instead of a post-trib one, but it’s ultimately good news. Paul writes to the Thessalonians and he says, “Concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need to have anything written to you for you know the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as a travail comes upon a woman with child, but you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness for that day to surprise you like a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day.” But then he goes on to warn those who are of the night. He goes on to warn those who are of darkness. He goes on to warn those who are not believers. He says, “Gregorios nephomen.” Those two words means “wake up” and “get real.”
If you’re not a believer, that’s God’s message this morning to you. You need to repent. Judgement is coming. You need to wake up and get real. If you’re just kind of going through your days, getting up every morning, cleaning up, eating a little breakfast, heading out to work, coming home, watching a little TV, doing the whole thing the next day all over again, wake up and get real. Judgement is coming. Of course, for those of us who believe the time is short, every generation is to think that. The time is short, and we need to take what time we have to serve Christ with all the strength that’s within us. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.